I had to replace the snubber ring on my Maytag Performa Washer yesterday as the washer would rock violently during the spin cycle. I disconnected the power supply, hoses, and the motor harness (at the motor), and removed the cabinet. After removing the springs, I lifted the tub and tub support assembly from the bottom plate (causing the drive belt to fall off) and turned the tub and support assembly upside down. I was able to change out the old snubber by halfway loosening the 6 5/16" bolts on the brake stator and working it free. I cleaned the base plate with alcohol, sprinkled a little cornstarch on it, and then installed the new snubber ring and re-tightened the bolts. I re-assembled everything. My wife put a load in to test the machine. It filled with water but then started buzzing (she said she smelt a slight plastic burn) and would not agitate. She immediately turned it off. Can you tell me what could now be wrong? I checked the drive belt and can rotate it both clockwise and counterclockwise easily enough by hand (turning the agitator in the clockwise direction and the inner tub in the counterclockwise direction). The motor can slide easily enough.

Can anyone help me understand what is wrong?

Whenever the washer is turned on now it just buzzes (whether the door lid is open or closed). I wondered if the safety spin switch could be the problem but (as I don't currently have a working multimeter to check voltage or resistance) I by-passed the switch with a piece of wire and still no motor activation. Do I need to awaken the Maytag repair guy?Help!!!!

I just checked to be sure. Yes it is the motor buzzing. I only turn the machine on for a few seconds as I don't want to burn motor.Is it possible that the snubber ring may not be centered or the brake stator bolted too tightly?

I took the belt off and put the washer on spin but the motor only buzzed until I manually turned the motor pulley, at which point the motor continued to run. I re-connected the belt and put the washer on spin and again it buzzed until I manually turned the motor pulley, and then it continued to run. Why is that?

Sorry it took so long to get back to you but by the time I got your message I had already dismantled the tub and was in the process of taking off and re-installing the snubber. So now that I have the machine all assembled again what do you recommend I do next?

The motor was working fine before. The only wires disconnected during the process of changing the snubber were the motor harness and the grounding wires. These were reconnected. I believe there should be a wiring diagram for the washer in the console. I will check for this and get back to you.

Okay, I took the cabinet off again so that I could look directly into the motor switch and quick disconnect wire harness. On close inspection (with the aid of a bright light) I noticed that the leftmost pin of the switch (which connects the red wire from the timer to the motor start winding) was bent 90 degrees and laying flat against the inside of the switch case such that simply looking down on the switch from above (as I had done when checking the wiring before) one would not see a pin at this location at all. This pin obviously got bent when I re-connected the wire harness to the switch after installing the snubber, because I had already re-attached the cabinet and so could not see directly into the switch while working from the front of the washer.

After correcting this simple but fundamental boo-boo the motor worked like a charm... and the angels sang! My wife is now happily washing laundry in the machine.

Thank you so much AJ for the troubleshooting directions, and thank you RegUS_PatOff for the wiring diagram!